A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.

Envy is the basis of democracy.